Consumer Lawyer Gives Bad Advice on Debt Collection Case Loss

A bankruptcy attorney recently wrote an article for a legal site discussing what consumers should do if they actually lose a debt collection case (you know, other than obeying the court and paying the debt). The advice is as predictably self-serving as it is incredibly bad.

Attorney John Skiba (whom we’ve mentioned before) published an article this week on legal blog site JD Supra called “4 Strategies if You Lose Your Debt Collection Lawsuit.”

First of all, Skiba claims that any consumer losing a debt collection lawsuit deserves another chance, because any judge ruling for a creditor/collection agency/debt buyer is just probably wrong because debt buyers are the worst.

But if you should happen to lose to an ARM attorney, you should definitely appeal the decision. If you can’t formally appeal, then just ask the judge to reconsider, because they were probably wrong in the first place and you might be able to talk a judge into admitting that, according to Skiba.

If that doesn’t work, then just try to settle with the creditor/agency. After all, they’d be totally willing to sacrifice money legally owed just to get it earlier, right?

The first three bits of advice were probably intentionally bad to drive people to the last one: file for bankruptcy protection. Now, Skiba is just giving advice here. The fact that he’s a consumer bankruptcy attorney has nothing to do with this advice, I’m sure. Even if he had previously written articles titled “Debt Collection Lawsuit + Delay = Bankruptcy” and “Nuke It! Eliminate Your Debt Collection Lawsuit through Bankruptcy” that also appear on the site.

And the way he frames the suggestion of bankruptcy is just gross. He suggests that it’s the perfect way to “ruin their day,” (referring to debt buyers). Because that’s how most microeconomic decisions should be made: on the basis of which offers the best vengeance.

How often to you see consumers filing bankruptcy after a judgment is entered? Is this a common practice?